Single-handled valve structure



Nov. 4, 1969 R. F. DOF 2NAUS 3,476,149

SINGLE-HANDLED VALVE STRUCTURE Original Filed July 2, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. REM/E27 E Dogs/n05 firramvsys.

Nov. 4, 1969 R. F. DORNAUS SINGLE-HANDLED VALVE STRUCTURE 4 Sheets-Sheet2 Original Filed July 1963 INVENTOR. REM/E27 1 f DOQNHUS Nov. 4, 1969 R.F. DORNAUS 3,476,149

SINGLE-HANDLED VALVE STRUCTURE Original Filed July 2 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet3 I NVEN TOR.

\ RE/NEQT E Dam/nus 7 NOV. 4, 1969 DORNAUS 3,476,149

S INGLEHANDLED VALVE STRUCTURE L maI FiLedvJuly 1963 4 Sheets-ShetINVENTOR. BE/NEQT F: Doe/V005 Raff/4W1 M flrraeusvs.

United States Patent 3,476,149 SINGLE-HANDLED VALVE STRUCTURE Reinert F.Dornaus, South San Gabriel, Calif., assignor to Price-Pfister BrassManufacturing Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of CaliforniaOriginal application July 2, 1963, Ser. No. 292,306, now Patent No.3,324,884, dated June 13, 1967. Divided and this application Apr. 10,1967, Ser. No. 675,721

Int. Cl. F16k 19/00, 11/14 U.S. Cl. 137-625.4 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A valve chamber is defined by a cup-shaped recess formed inthe valve body. Hot and cold water inlets as well as an outlet areformed in the bottom of the cup. A seat member is fitted in the cup andproviding ports respectively registerable with the inlets and outlet.Interposed between the seat member and the bottom wall of the cup areO-rings supported by a retainer thinner than the O-rings. The O-ringsfor the inlets describe areas substantially greater than the areas ofthe corresponding ports whereby fluid pressure is exerted upon the seatmember when the valve is off. This arrangement causes the seat member tofollow any movement of the valve plate which moves across the seatmember on the opposite side. The effectiveness of the seal is madelargely independent of wear.

RELATED PATENTS This is a division of application Ser. No. 292,306,filed July 2, 1963, now Patent No. 3,324,884.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to asingle-handled valve struc ture of a type shown and described in LyonPatent No. 3,035,612 issued to the assignee of this application.

In said prior patent there is disclosed a valve structure in which aflat valve plate is slidably positioned relative to a valve seat. Thevalve seat has a hot water inlet, a cold water inlet, and an outlet. Anarcuate recess establishes the desired registry. The valve plate ismoved by a projection at one end of an operating arm, the other end ofwhich is attached to a handle. A rectangular projection on the arm fitsa rectanglar recess in the plate. Two side surfaces of the projectionare flat, and the other two are rounded. A ball formed at the center ofthe arm is supported in a socket for universal movement. However, inorder to insure that for each position of the operating handle the valveplate determines one and only one particular valve condition, the valveplate is so confined that it has only two modes of movement, one in aradial direction relative to the valve axis normal to the seat, and theother in an angular direction about that axis. The rectangularprojection of the arm and the rectangular recess ensured this result bybinding upon any other mode of movement.

In order to impose suitable limits to the valve plate movement and todefine a triangular boundary to the courses of movement, and thus acentral off position, the valve plate has or carries stops cooperablewith a cam structure. While this valve is fairly satisfactory when thevalve plate is made of metal, difficulties may be encountered when thevalve plate is made of ceramic suitable for efiicient sealing purpose.Such ceramic may be brittle or subject to crumbling. It has been foundthat the stops or the recessing in which they fit deteriorate due torepeated impacts with the cam; the fit between the arm projection andthe valve plate recess deteriorates due to repeating binding action;rough handling of the handle may shear off the stops permitting thevalve plate to hit the sides of the valve body recess. The results are:a wobbly connection between the handle and the valve plate; loss ofconfinement of the valve plate for movement in a polar coordinate systemwith corresponding loss of predictable operation; undue enlargement ofthe courses of movement of the valve plate; and finally breakingof thevalve plate due to impact with the sides of the valve housing. Variousattempts have been made to strengthen the valve plate at its stop and atits rectangular recess. No practical solutions have been found prior tothe present invention.

7 Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a practicalway of avoiding undue deterioration or wear of a valve plate of thischaracter. Particularly it is an object of this invention to make itpossible for a ceramic valve plate to be used without danger of breakageor undue wear. In order to accomplish this objective, the valve plate isconfined for movement in a polar coordinate system and limited all bymeans carried by the operating arm rather than by the valve plate. Theforces imposed by the handle are thus absorbed by the valve housingquite independently of the valve plate. The valve plate, through itsnonload bearing connection with the operating arm, merely assumes aposition as determined by the operating handle.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangementfor preventing leakage of water through the valve when the valve is inthe off position. For this purpose, use is made of the static pressureurging the valve and the valve plate together.

Another object of this invention is to provide an extremely compactvalve occupying but little space at a sink deck or the like.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved valveof this character capable of simple assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a front elevational viewof a faucet construction incorporating the present invention, a portionof the apparatus being broken away and shown in section;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along a planecorresponding to line 22 of FIG. 1 and showing the valve in closedposition;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a plane corresponding to line 3-3of 'FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but illustratingthe valve in open position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating the valvein the open position of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6 and '7 are sectional views similar to FIG. 5, showing furtheralternate open positions of the valve structure;

FIGS. 8, 9, 10a and 10b are sectional views taken along planescorresponding respectively to lines 88, 9-9 10a-10a, and 10b10b of FIG.4;

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the mode of movement of theball shaft relative to the valve plate;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along a planecorresponding to line 1212 of FIG. 10a;

FIG. 13 is an exploded pictorial view showing the operating parts of thevalve mechanism;

FIG. 14 is an exploded pictorial view illustrating the valve plate andvalve seat from a side opposite that depicted in FIG. 13; and

FIG. 15 is an exploded pictorial view illustrating the ball socket partsand the ball shaft from a position opposite that depicted in FIG. 13.

3 DETAILED DESCRIPTION By way of example, the valve structure is shownembodied in a faucet structure (FIG. 1) adapted to be mounted at spacedholes and 11 in the deck surrounding a sink or lavatory 12. The body ofthe valve comprises two parts 13 and 14, both made of cast brass orother suitable material.

' The body part 13 provides depending threaded extensions 15 and 16projecting into the apertures 10 and 11 for cooperation with suitablesupply conduits for cold and hot water.

The body part 13 provides two passages 17 and 18, each leading from therespective extensions 15 and 16 to an upper land 19 located centrally ofthe body part 13. (See also FIGS. 2 and 8). The ends of the passages 17and 18 open upwardly at spaced portions of the land 19 and are slightlyenlarged, as at 20 and 21, to accommodate sealing O-rings 22 and 23.

The valve body part 14 has a mounting flange 24 '(FIG. 2) providing onits lower side a flat surface 25 engaging the land 19. The flange 24extends laterally from the bottom of a cup 26 which provides a valvechamber. The cup 26 faces rearwardly of the faucet. Also located at theback of the cup 26 and upon the flange 24 is upwardly extending nipple27 forming an outlet from the valve chamber. A swing spout 28 issupported in a conventional manner on the nipple 27.

Cap screws 29 and 30 (FIG. 1) secure the flange 24 against the land 19.An appropriate decorative cover (not shown) may enclose the valve bodyparts 13 and 14. This cover may be clamped against the sink deck by theaid of a nut 31 (see also FIG. 2) mounted upon the nipple 27.

The valve body part 13 may be modified for wall mounting, or forcooperation with deck holes spaced differently, all without requiringany change in the body part 14.

In order to conduct water from the cold and hot water passages 17 and 18to the valve chamber defined by the cup 26, appropriate passages areformed in the body part 14. Thus, the flange 24 of the valve body part14 provides two recesses 32 and 33 (see FIGS. 1 and 8) extendingupwardly from the surface 25 and registering with the ends of the bodypassages 17 and 18. The O-rings 22 and 23 are slightly compressed as thesurfaces 25 and 19' are drawn together by the screws 29 and 30. Asuitable seal is thus established.

Transverse cold and hot water passages 34 and 35 intersect the recesses32 and 33 and open at the bottom of the cup 26. The passages 34 and 35are symmetrically and diametrically disposed on opposite sides of thecentral axis c of the cup 26.

The cup 26, as shown in FIG. 13, is generally cylindrical in form,having two intermediate shoulders 36 and 37 defining an inner portion38, an intermediate portion 39, and an outer portion 40. Aligninggrooves 41 and 42 are formed on opposite sides of the cup and extendthrough the intermediate and inner portions 39 and 38 to the bottom wall43 of the cup recess. Formed in the bottom wall 43 is an outlet passage44 (see FIG. 2) leading to a recess 45 and the nipple 27. The outletpassage 44 is located above the central axis c as shown in FIG. 3.

A valve seat 46 (FIGS. 2, 4 and 13) made of ceramic material isaccommodated in the inner portion 38 of the cup 26 and has cold and hotwater ports 47 and 48 as well as an outlet port 49 registeringrespectively with the body passages 34, 35 and 44. The valve seat 46 isprovided with cars 50 and 51 that cooperate with the grooves 41 and 42of the cup 26 to ensure alignment.

Interposed between the valve seat 46 and the bottom wall 43 of the cup26 is a seal structure 52 to prevent lateral flow across the bottom wall43 of the cup 26. The seal structure 52 comprises a retainer 53 made ofmolded Delrin or the like. The retainer has enlarged oval apertures 54and 55 (see FIGS. 8 and 13) registering with the cold and hot waterpassages 34 and 35 on one side and the cold and hot water ports 47 and48 of the seat 46 on the other side. The retainer also has a circularaperture 56 registering with the outlet passage 44 and outlet port 49.O-rings 57, 58 and 59 are mounted in the apertures 54, 55 and 56. All ofthe rings are normally circular, but the rings 57 and 58 are caused toconform to the oval contour of the apertures 54 and 55. The retainer 53is thinner than the corresponding dimensions of the 0- rings, and hencefloats thereon, even when the O-rings are slightly compressed as theparts are assembled. Exaggerated clearance is depicted in FIGS. 2 and 4.The retainer 53 has ears 60 and 61 cooperable with the grooves 41 ,and42 to determine the desired registration.

The outwardly facing surface of the valve seat 46 is accurately groundto flatness. Cooperable with the outer surface of the valve seat 46 is avalve plate 62 that may similarly be made of ceramic material and alsoaccurately ground. The valve plate 62 has a peripheral configurationdefined by intersecting cylindrical surfaces 63 and 64. The radii ofcurvature 65 and 66 of the cylindrical surfaces 63 and 64 are slightlyless than the radius of the inner portion 38 of the cup recess. Thecenters of curvature are spaced slightly from each other, as depicted inFIG. 9, and lie in, or determine, a symmetry plane 12 of the valve plate62. This plane p, fixed with respect to the valve plate 62, is in amanner hereinafter to be described confined so that the center axis c ofthe cup 26 always lies in the plane 11. Yet this plane, and the valveplate with it, can, within limits, move angularly about the center axis0, and can, within limits, be radially shifted through the center axisc. Thus the valve plate is confined for radial and arcuate movement in apolar coordinate system about the axis.

In order to control the registry of the cold and hot water ports 47 and48 with the outlet port 49, the valve plate 62 has a generally arcuatecavity 67 (FIG. 14) facing the seat 46. This cavity continouslyregisters with the outlet port 49. The valve plate recess 67 has endsurfaces 68 and 69 capable, respectively, of sweeping across the coldand hot water ports 47 and 48 to control their degree of registry withthe recess 67 and thus with the outlet port 49. In the off position ofthe valve depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, the valve plate 62 is shiftedupwardly, and the end surfaces 68 and 69 lie above the passages 34 and35. Thus there is no flow. When the valve plate 62 is moved downwardlyfrom the position of FIG. 3, both end surfaces 68 and 69 move partiallyacross the cold and hot water inlets 47 and 48 to provide combined flow,and as shown in FIG. 5.

When the valve plate 62 has been shifted downwardly, the symmetry planep and thus the valve plate 62 may be moved angularly about the centeraxis 0 to the extreme positions illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. In FIG. 6,the valve plate recess 67 is in full registry with the hot water port 48and entirely out of registry with the cold water port 47. FIG. 7illustrates the opposite arrangement.

Shifting movement of the valve plate 62 in a radial direction relativeto the central axis 0 is intended to determine the volume of flow, andangular movement of the valve plate 62 is intended to control therelative opening of the cold and hot water ports 47 and 48. It isfurthermore intended that there be but a single off position. By meanshereinafter to be described, a certain triangular boundary is imposedupon the courses of movement of the valve plate 62.

For purposes of illustrating the movement of the valve plate 62, thereis shown in FIG. 6 a point It fixed in the symmetry plane p of the valveplate 62 and located above the valve. The point n may be moved to anyposition within a triangle O-H-C (corresponding to off, hot and cold).As the point it approaches the apex O, the degree of permitted angularmovement of the valve plate 62 and of the symmetry plane p becomes lessand less. Thus as the plane p shifts upwardly from the position of FIG.5, less angular movement is required to move the valve plate recess 67out of registry with one of the ports and into a limited degree ofregistry with the other port corresponding to the reduced volumeposition.

The valve plate 62 is held in the inner recess portion 38 by a backingplate 70 (FIG. 2) made of ceramic or other suitable material. The valveplate 62, made of ceramic, thus slides along elements made of similarmaterial. The backing plate 70 fits against the inner shoulder 36 of thecup 26 and it has cars 71 and 72 respectively fitting the grooves 41 and42. The plate 70 also has an car 73 (FIG. 13) that fits a groove 74located at the bottom of the cup 26 and extending along the intermediaterecess portion 39.

In order to move the valve plate 62, an operating arm in the form of aball shaft assembly 75 is provided. The ball shaft assembly 75 has acenter ball part 76 supported at the outer end of the cup 26 by the aidof an inner seat part 77 and an outer seat part 78. The inner seat part77 has a flat base 79 accommodated in the intermediate recess portion 39and against the backing plate 70. The base 79 has three ears 80, 81 and82 fitting the grooves 32, 33 and 74. Projecting outwardly from thecenter of the inner part 77 is a generally circularly extending wall 83formed to provide a generally hemispherical recess 84 for receiving halfof the ball part 76. The outer edge of the wall is grooved for purposeshereinafter to be described.

The outer seat part 78 has a base 85 that fits against the base 79 ofthe inner seat part 77. Its marginal portion, however, abuts the outershoulder 37 of the cup 26. The outer seat part 78 has a centraloutwardly projecting cup 86. The wall 83 of the inner seat part 77 isreceived within the cup 86. At the bottom of the cup 86, and as shown inFIG. 15, there is provided a generally hemispherical recess 87 for theother half of the ball part 76. The cup is interiorly grooved about therecess 87 for purposes hereinafter to be described.

The outer seat part 78 may be placed into assembled relationship withthe inner seat part 77 only in one angular position for reasonspresently to appear. For this purpose, the base 85 has circularprojections 88 and 89 (FIG. 15) of different size, respectively fittingrecesses 90 and 91 (FIG. 13) of the inner seat part 77 A cap 92, whichmay be made of suitable metal material, fits the rear surface of theouter seat part 78, and its outer portion is received in the outerenlarged portion 40 of the cup 26. As shown in FIG. 2, the end of thecup 26 is swedged, as at 93, to secure all of the parts in assembledrelationship.

When the valve structure is closed, as indicated in FIG. 2, waterpressure acts upon the small circular areas of the valve plate 62 at theends of the ports 47 and 48. This pressure tends to move the valve platevery slightly to the right and against the stop plate 70. In order toprevent leakage due to such movement, the static water pressure isutilized correspondingly to move the valve seat 46 and furthermore tourge it positively against the valve plate 62. It is for this purposethat the recesses 54 and 55 of the seal assembly 52 are enlarged.

Thus the static water pressure acts over a very substantial area of theseat 46 and urges it outwardlyagainst the valve plate 62. The slightmovement does not disrupt the seal established by the O-rings since theyare normally compressed to an adequate degree. Not only does thisarrangement prevent leakage due to static water pressure, butcompensation is furthermore provided for the very minor wear that occursbetween the valve plate 62 and the seat 46. In actual test, the valvehas been proven capable of leak-proof operation for more than a millioncycles.

The ball shaft assembly 75 has an operating projection 94 that extendsthrough an opening 95 at the center of the inner seat part 77 andthrough an access aperture 96 in the backing plate 70 and into a recess97 formed in the rear surface of the valve plate 62. The projection 94may be made of hardened steel and press-fitted into a suitable recessformed in the ball part 76. On the opposite side of the ball part 76 isan integral noncircular extension 98 that projects through an aperture99 formed in the center of the outer seat part 88 and through an accessaperture 100 formed at the center of the cap or closure 92. An operatinglever 101 is fitted over the extension 98 and secured thereto by a screw102 by which means the ball shaft assembly 75 and the valve plate 62 arepositioned.

The recess 97 is generally of rectangular parallelepiped configuration,with the symmetry plane p of the valve plate 62 extending midwaybetween, and parallel to, the side walls of the recess 97. Theprojection 94 has side surfaces fitting the side surfaces of the recess97. However, the top and bottom surfaces of the projection 94 arerounded to permit their sliding along the top and bottom surfaces of thevalve plate recess 97 In FIG. 11 the valve plate 62 and the ball shaftassembly 75 are illustrated. It will be appreciated, from aconsideration of FIG. 11 and the foregoing description, that, relativeto the valve plate 62, the ball shaft assembly 75 may be tilted up anddown but not laterally due to the fit of projection 94 and the recess97.

The ball shaft assembly 75 has a symmetry plane YZ passing through thecenter of the ball part 76. This symmetry plane YZ falls midway betweenthe side surfaces of the projection 94. Due to the fit of the sidesurfaces of the projection 94 with the side surfaces of the recess 97,the symmetry plane YZ must be coplanar with the symmetry plane p of thevalve plate 62, whatever the relative positions of the valve plate 62and the ball shaft assembly 75. Hence if the plane YZ of the ball shaftassembly is confined so that it always passes through the center axis cof the cup 26, the same must hold true for the valve plate plane p.

In the assembled position of the parts, the center of the ball part 76is, of course, fixed at the center axis 0 of the cup 26. The fit betweenthe projection 94 and the recess 97 will normally confine the parts sothat the axis 0 always lies within the plane YZ and the symmetry plan pof the valve plate 62. However, other means are provided to ensure thisresult so as to prevent the imposition of any undue binding forcebetween the projection 94 and the valve plate recess 97.

For this purpose, the ball part 76 has two pins 103 and 104 on oppositesides that extend at right angles to the plane YZ and along an axis x ofthe ball shaft assembly 75, as depicted in FIG. 11. The pins 103 and 104are movable respectively in two of four recesses formed generally in anequatorial zone about the ball socket 84-87.

The wall 83 of the socket part 77, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 10a, hasgrooves 105a, 106a, 107a, and 108a separated by projectors 109a, 110a111a, and 112a. As shown in FIGS. 15 and 10b, grooves 105b, 106b, 107b,and 108b are formed in the cup 86 and complement the grooves 105a, 106a,107a, and 108a to form recesses. The recesses 105-108 are separated byprojections 109b, 110b, 111b, and 112b that respectively abut theprojections 109a, 110a, 111a, and 112a to form end walls for therecesses.

The recesses 105ab and 106ab extend in a plane perpendicular to thecenter axis 0 of the cup 26 (see also FIG. 2) and confine the pins 103and 104 so that the axis x of the ball shaft assembly is alwaysperpendicular to that center axis 0. The YZ plane of the ball shaftassembly 75 and thus the valve plate symmetry plane p can be shiftedradially of the axis 0 or moved angularly thereabout, but must alwaysinclude the center axis 0. This prevents any binding between theprojection 94 and the recess 97. As the ball shaft assembly 75 is moved,the valve plate 62 merely assumes an orientation as determined by theprojection 97.

When the symmetry plane p is moved angularly about the center axis c,the pins 103 and 104 slide along their recesses 105ab and 106ab. As thesymmetry plane p is shifted radially along of the center axis 0, theball shaft 75 7 tilts about the pins 103, 104 which act as trunnions.The projections 109ab, 110ab, 111ab, and 112ab, forming the ends of therecesses 105ab and 106ab, in conjunction with means hereinafter to bedescribed, determine the limits of such angular movement.

The top and bottom recesses 107ab and 108ab determine the triangularboundary to the permitted movement of the valve plate. For this purpose,the ball shaft assembly has pins 113 and 114 that extend along the Yaxis of the ball shaft assembly 75. The pins 113 and 114 areaccommodated with clearance in the recesses 108ab and 107abrespectively. The recesses 108ab and 107a]; have a generally triangularshape, as illustrated in FIG. 12.

As the ball shaft assembly 75 is moved to the off position, the pin 113moves inwardly while the pin 114 moves outwardly. The recess 108abconverges toward a central apex 115 formed in the inner seat part 77,and the recess 107ab converges toward an apex 116 formed in the outerseat part 78. The ball shaft thus centers as it is moved to the offposition. As the valve is moved to the open position, the pins 113 and114 move away from the apices 115 and 116 along either side wall, orbetween them, and to the side of the recesses 108 and 107 opposite theapices 115 and 116. These opposite sides determine the limit of theradial shifting movement of the valve plate 62, while the projections109112 at the ends of these opposite sides also determine the limits ofangular movement. The limits are so situated as to prevent any portionof the valve plate 62 from engaging the inner recess portion 38 of thecup 26. Any excess force imposed upon the handle 101 is absorbed by thesocket parts 77 and 78 quite independently of the valve plate 62.

The end of the operating lever 101 lies generally above the valve forconvenient access, and moves within a triangular boundary. As it ismoved from side to side at a forward position, as indicated in phantomlines in FIG. 1, the valve plate is caused to shift between the O and Hpositions of FIG. 6. As the handle is moved forwardly and rearwardly,the valve plate is caused to shift from and toward the central position0. By merely pushing the handle rearwardly, the valve returns to thecentral off position. Since the end of the operating lever 101 is at avery substantial distance from the axis of the pins 103 and 104 ascompared to the valve plate 62, a substantial forward and rearwardmovement of the lever It produces the slight shifting movement of thevalve plate 62. Appropriate control, free of undue sensitivity, results.

The ball shaft assembly is movable angularly above and below the centeraxis c substantially by equal amount, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.Thus the center of the recesses 107ab and 108ab are located preciselyabove and below the center of the ball part 76. This makes it possiblefor the recessed parts in the respective halves of the socket structureto be relatively shallow. A saving in material results and the axialdimension of the valve cup 26 is minimized.

The inventor claims:

1. In a valve structure: a valve body having a cup forming a valvechamber; means forming in the bottom of the cup a hot water inletpassage, a cold water inlet passage, and an outlet passage; a seatmember fitted in the cup and having a hot water port, a cold water port,and an outlet port registering respectively with said passages; a sealretainer fitted in the cup and located between one side of the seatmember and the bottom of the cup, and having three apertures; resilientrings in the retainer apertures and projecting beyond the retainer forsealing the ports relative to their corresponding passages, the ringsfor the inlet ports describing areas substantially greater than theareas of the corresponding ports for application of fluid pressure tothe said one side of said seat member; a valve plate slidable along theother side of the seat member and having a recess means for controllingthe registry of the inlet ports relative to the outlet port and movableto close said inlet ports; a centrally apertured backing plate fitted inthe cup and confining the valve plate against said seat member; and anoperating arm mounted at the outer end of said cup and having a partprojecting through the backing plate and coupled to said valve plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,525,989 10/1950 Works et a1.251--172 2,987,079 6/1961 Page 251l72 3,006,599 10/1961 Eckert 251-172M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner M. O. STURM, Assistant Examiner U.S.Cl. X.R. 251l72

